Beastborne- Mark of the Founder

by James T Callum

  Hal stared at the body nonplussed. Was it really that easy?

  He remained on guard though.

  “Stay back, Noth,” he warned. This was the time when the villain would usually feign death then leap up at the last moment to throw some wild hail mary that would succeed only because the hero was stupid enough to relax and congratulate themselves.

  Noth rose back up into the air, out of reach, her scythe held at the ready.

  When it seemed neither of them would fall for the ploy, the two halves inched across the floor and with ropy, tarry tendrils, pulled themselves back together. Noth was on it in a heartbeat, sweeping her black scythe across the creature’s middle, severing it in half again.

  Hal held out his hand toward the creature. He might not have the strength to rip Shae’kathoth in half like he did the Shoggoth… but if Shae’kathoth was already ripped in half, well that was another story.

  Barbed spectral chains rose up like hellish torture devices. One set of chains pulled the lump of tarry darkness to the right, and another summoned set pulled it to the left. The chains tightened and bit into Shae’kathoth as Noth floated above, waiting patiently for her opportunity to attack.

  Hal was blowing through his bolstered MP but Shae’kathoth was taking a beating it probably never expected to be on the receiving end of. He still had 178 MP to use, and he was only at the first Level of Strain Affliction. With the one-sided fight, Hal began to doubt Thirty-seven’s claims of Shae’kathoth’s powers.

  That quickly changed as a long oily appendage lanced out from between the biting chains. Straight at Noth. The Reaper parried with her scythe but Shae’kathoth anticipated her reaction. It wrapped around the black metal weapon and tugged.

  “Don’t let it touch you!” Hal cried out, already tightening the barbed chains, hoping to hurt it enough that it would let go.

  No such luck.

  While she was distracted, the other half of Shae’kathoth reached out with stretching limbs. One grabbed her armored shin, but the other hit her bare cheek.

  That tiny slap should have been inconsequential. There was no power behind the blow, but that wasn’t the point of it.

  Time seemed to stand still.

  Hal stared at the scene wondering what he could possibly do. Would Shae’kathoth be able to take control of a Reaper made material?

  Black veins crawled up Noth’s cheek. It took less than a second but that was all the time Shae’kathoth needed. In an instant, the oily mass of the creature was drawn out of its barbed prisons and into the Reaper.

  Noth screamed and fell to the ground in a heap.

  Hal stood, dismissing the spells and lifting his sword, ready for whatever might come.

  The Reaper’s eyes opened, her golden gaze settling on Hal. A wave of relief washed over him until he noticed the darkness gathering at the edges of her eyes. It came on slowly, like droplets of ink in a glass of water. Swirls of dark threaded through the whites of her eyes, until there was nothing but darkness.

  “Fight it, Noth!” Hal shouted to her.

  “I can’t,” she said in a voice so quiet Hal barely heard her.

  The golden irises slowly faded as the darkness claimed her. She rose to her full height, no longer Noth. Shae’kathoth laughed, warping Noth’s voice into something bubbly and wrong.

  “This body will do,” Shae’kathoth said, flexing Noth’s fingers and giving her scythe a few awkward practice swings.

  Hal wasn’t sure what to do. And Shae’kathoth had no intention of giving him the time to come up with a strategy.

  Using Noth’s body, Shae’kathoth lunged forward at Hal. He backpedaled up a few sets of stairs trying to gain the high ground. A great swipe of her scythe ripped a long tear in his tattered aketon and just barely scratched him as he hopped up two more steps, avoiding a more dangerous cut.

  [Shae’kathoth-Noth] hits you for 0 points of damage.

  Your Barkskin absorbs 7 points of damage.

  Shae’kathoth came on again, unwilling to let up for even a second. Hal sent another Blinding Spit at the creature but received a gash on his left arm as payment for the casting.

  You cast Blinding Spit.

  [Shae’kathoth-Noth] takes 44 points of damage.

  Additional Effect: Blindness, Enmity Up.

  [Shae’kathoth-Noth] hits you for 37 points of damage.

  Additional Effect: Reaping Sickness (Halted Regeneration).

  Your Barkskin absorbs 7 points of damage.

  Your Barkskin effect fades.

  Hal winced at the wound. In one strike his enhanced regeneration was completely nullified. It didn’t trigger on the first strike and that could only be because Barkskin had prevented him from taking any damage.

  Already Barkskin was showing its worth. Pairing it with an evasive build would mean what little he did get hit wouldn’t hurt much.

  If he could avoid getting hit for a few minutes, it would regenerate to full. But he somehow doubted the fight would last that long.

  In Noth’s body, Shae’kathoth was several times faster and stronger. Every second it grew more familiar with Noth’s particular makeup and her skillset. Hal didn’t know if the Reaper had any magic and at that moment, he sincerely hoped all Noth had at her disposal was that wicked scythe.

  As Shae’kathoth stopped chasing Hal and spread its arm’s wide, Hal knew he was about to see Noth’s spells up close and personal.

  [Shae’kathoth-Noth] begins casting Call of the Grave.

  Hal stepped back. What the heck is “Call of the Grave?”

  His question was answered a moment later. A large glowing pool of orange light illuminated the center of the chamber, triggering Hal’s Premonition.

  A deep black pit of impenetrable shadow formed at the center of the room between Hal and Shae’kathoth. Long shadowy limbs slowly reached out toward Hal. Every step felt laborious and his movements were sluggish.

  [Shae’kathoth-Noth] casts Call of the Grave.

  You suffer the effect of Slow.

  Worse of all, Shae’kathoth was no longer casting.

  Oh, that’s not fair. Noth has a spell she doesn’t need to actively channel?

  Shae’kathoth charged with renewed vigor. Left, right, left went the slashing scythe. Hal was hit by each as his improved speed was negated by Call of the Grave. Each of Shae’kathoth’s strikes was more devastating than the last. Even though the reaching shadowy hands hadn’t caught him, their slowing effect was potent.

  [Shae’kathoth-Noth] hits you for 49 points of damage.

  Additional Effect: Reaping Sickness II (+15% Damage Taken)

  [Shae’kathoth-Noth] hits you for 57 points of damage.

  Additional Effect: Reaping Sickness III (+25% Damage Taken)

  [Shae’kathoth-Noth] hits you for 63 points of damage.

  Additional Effect: Reaping Sickness IV (+35% Damage Taken)

  He couldn’t take many more hits like that. In a short burst, he was already down about half of his HP. Once again he was glad to have invested in VIT.

  Hal snapped out with the chain, connecting solidly with the scythe. He set his feet and wrenched on the chain with all his shadow-infused muscles could bring to bear.

  The scythe flew from Noth’s possessed fingers. Shae’kathoth let loose a terrible wail that Noth’s voice could never have made.

  [Shae’kathoth-Noth] uses Disconcerting Wail.

  You are Stunned.

  Caught mid-tug, Hal’s muscles seized up and refused to heed his frantic commands. The scythe arced through the air above Hal’s head and clanged several feet behind him, still attached to the chain.

  87

  Stunned as he was, he was powerless to stop Shae’kathoth from killing him. But the creature hardly regarded him as a threat at that point. “I think I will take this body for my own,” Shae’kathoth said, warping Noth’s voice. “It bested you easily and I am so curious to find out what a Reaper can do.”

  The grasping hands of Shae’kathoth’s spell finally
reached Hal at the moment the creature stepped past Hal and picked up the scythe.

  As soon as he had control of his muscles again, Hal jerked on the chain, yanking the sharp cutting blade of the scythe up and across Shae’kathoth’s stolen body. The blade squealed and made a horrendous cry as the black metal blade met her dark cuirass and threw out bright sparks.

  The scythe flew toward Hal and he barely managed to lean out of its way. He couldn’t move his feet and the shadowy hands were slowly dragging him toward the black swirling pit in the middle of the room.

  He did not want to know what would happen when he reached it.

  Hal knelt down and slapped his chained hand to the floor. “Why don’t you take a better body, you Slenderman reject!”

  Spectral barbed chains sprang up lashing across the body of Noth, pulling taut, and holding Shae’kathoth in place. He hesitated a moment, unwilling to actually wound Noth much further.

  “Do it! I would rather be destroyed than let this… vile plague masquerade as me!” Noth’s voice rang out in Hal’s head. He took only a moment to realize how similar it was to when the Beast took over his own body.

  And then it hit him.

  The solution was right there in front of him. Hal released the scythe and whipped the chain out ahead of him, calling upon its magic to bind to the stone floor. It pulled taut as the shadows dragged Hal inexorably toward the dark pit.

  He could force Shae’kathoth’s hand at the same time as he escaped whatever horrors awaited him in that pit. His left arm ached from the strain but he didn’t dare loosen his grip.

  As he released his palm from the ground to whip his chain forward, Shae’kathoth broke free of his spell and marched with a snarl toward Hal. If his goal was to enrage the body-stealing creature, he had succeeded.

  It didn’t matter what awaited him in the pit less than a foot behind him. Shae’kathoth would get to him first.

  Shutting his eyes, Hal focused on the tether that existed between him and Noth. It was strained, less substantial, but nowhere near as weak as when the Beast had taken control.

  Good. I can use that.

  Hal focused all the willpower he could bring to bear on that tether, strengthening it. With a silent prayer to any god that was listening, Hal forced every ounce of his corporeal form into that tether.

  Nothing happened. He was about to try again when a wave of blinding pain assaulted his arm.

  Hal howled in agony as his arm popped out of its socket from the constant pull of Noth’s spell. Through sheer tenacity, he managed to keep his focus on the task at hand.

  The chain wrapped around his wrist was speckled in blood as it bit into his skin. Before his arm could be entirely ripped away, Hal’s body shifted from corporeal to ethereal, mere inches from Shae’kathoth’s reaching grasp.

  You take 19 points of damage.

  You suffer the effect of Ethereal Instability.

  Confusion crossed Noth’s face. Shae’kathoth twisted his host’s features into a grotesque parody of emotion. Everything was exaggerated and bizarre.

  Since he was no longer tethered to the physical plane, the shadowy hands from Call of the Grave had nothing to grasp onto. The spell faded without a target. At the same time, Hal’s weapons clattered to the ground. Whatever kept Noth’s scythe with her didn’t appear to be part of shifting between the two states.

  Shae’kathoth lunged forward, a gauntleted hand dove right through Hal’s incorporeal form. Confusion gave way to rage. It was harder to stay ethereal than before. His own corporeality had nowhere to go without Noth taking his corporeal form. He could feel the tether strain against what he did.

  Fearing what it would do to the tether if Hal persisted, he dove to the side becoming corporeal once more. He hit the ground with a gut-wrenching roll, reaching for his weapons. He just barely managed to scoop up both chain and blade.

  His dislocated left arm sent waves of nauseating pain that made it hard to think. The arm was useless on its own. Only through using his shadow-infused essence could he move it. And even then it was awkward and sluggish.

  Not to mention agonizing.

  Seeing Shae’kathoth coming at him, Hal twisted, sending [Goblinbane] down in a sharp arc that Shae’kathoth easily avoided.

  But the strike wasn’t meant to hit Shae’kathoth.

  As Hal struck out with his sword, he forced his left hand to whip the [Chain of Binding] forward. Focused on the blade, Shae’kathoth didn’t notice the chains until it was too late. A hearty clink told Hal he made a connection with Noth’s sturdy black armor and in that instant, he enacted the chain’s enchantment to hold fast.

  Triggering Deep Magic, shadows spread from his hand to lick up along the edge of [Goblinbane]. His treant essence gave the blade’s metal a rough, textured look. Hal didn’t know if Shae’kathoth was weak to arcana or plantoid but he was willing to bet that either monster property would hurt the creature more than a steel blade.

  Setting his feet, Hal yanked on the chain. He nearly blacked out from the pain but the shadow-laced tug sent the unbalanced Shae’kathoth stumbling forward. Right onto the thrusting [Goblinbane]. Hal grimaced as he angled the blade slightly, seeing a seam in the armor at the last second.

  I would want the same thing. I did want the same thing, he reminded himself. Not too long ago Hal had been on the receiving end of an ally’s punishment, similarly consumed by an evil entity. And he understood Noth’s desire to be destroyed rather than let a monster walk around in her skin.

  He could give her that much. Though it pained him to have to do it, that he could not make good on his vow to see her whole. The least he could do is make sure she did not turn into an abomination.

  The blade slid in through a thin gap in the armor just above the hip. Hal twisted the blade and placed a boot onto Shae’kathoth’s stunned body, kicking with all his might.

  You take 13 points of damage.

  Weakness Exploited!

  Savage Critical!

  [Shae’kathoth-Noth] takes 189 points of damage!

  Shae’kathoth went staggering away but Hal didn’t release it from the chain’s hold, he summoned Bomb Toss and shaped the spell to explode in a fiery fan in front of himself. At the same time, he pulled the monster masquerading as the Reaper back in again for another vicious strike.

  Another wave of agony assaulted him and if not for the blade driven deep into the body of the Reaper’s possessed form, Hal would have fallen over.

  Recalling the way her armor reacted to the heat of the campfire, Hal was unsurprised to find her armor melted off her body leaving her nearly naked. And the Reaper’s pale blue-toned skin was no obstacle to the [Goblinbane].

  Exploiting that weakness in Noth’s armor, Hal leaned on the blade as much for support as to drive it deeper. He sent the blade up so that it shot out the woman’s back. Her black eyes went wide and blood bubbled on her lips.

  Hal withdrew the [Goblinbane], watching with dismay as a thick stream of blood flowed from the wound. He twisted on his heels and looped the chain in his left hand around the crossguard on his right. He pulled with all his might on the chain, yanking Shae’kathoth off its feet and over Hal’s head.

  He released the binding hold of the chain as Shae’kathoth slammed hard into the stone floor. A wave of dizziness assaulted him and Hal collapsed to one knee, banging it against the stone floor painfully.

  A wave of white pain washed out his vision for a moment. He growled through it and focused on Noth’s downed form.

  “I have no idea how strong your body is Noth, are you… okay?”

  “I can’t tell,” Noth replied, her voice was as weak as her body looked. “But I think Shae’kathoth is able to empower my body. Be wary… if he gains access to further spells and abilities, he could be more dangerous than you can imagine. Finish it, Hal. Before he gains too much control.”

  Hal touched the floor with his palm. The chains made a loud rattling sound, drawing the groggy Shae’kathoth’s attention. Spectral cha
ins, simple but thick and sturdy snugged themselves around Shae’kathoth’s stolen form, pulling it tightly to the floor.

  He understood then, why Ashera hadn’t killed him. Though she clearly had the Beast beat during their fight. As much as he wanted to give Noth the peace she wanted… he couldn’t do it. And that’s when another plan came to him.

  One that he had wanted to avoid at all costs. But it was the only way if they both were to survive.

  “Give it up,” Hal said, walking over to Noth’s scythe and kicking it farther away.

  “Never,” Shae’kathoth rasped through bloodied lips.

  I hope I’m right about this.

  He felt sure of his plan but it was still a massive risk. One that he might not normally have the conviction to pull off on its own. But with Noth’s life threatened, he found the steel within himself to see it done. For all the Reaper’s sour moods, she consistently chose to help him despite her recent protestations that she was just a “witness.”

  “You backed the wrong horse,” Hal taunted, gritting his teeth through the pain. He must not let Shae’kathoth know how badly he was wounded. He had to bait him into thinking Hal was the superior host. “You can’t even beat me in that form, but if you had my body….” Hal let the notion hang in the air.

  The binding chains were so tight Shae’kathoth couldn’t get Noth’s head to move an inch. But Hal could feel Shae’kathoth’s interest. “Then once you defeat this shell, I will claim your body. You are a boy compared to the man whose body I wanted but I can mold you into my own image easily enough.”

  Hal barked a dry, humorless laugh. “Can you take over dead bodies? Yeah, I didn’t think so. So here’s the deal-”

  “Hal, what are you doing? Kill it!”

  The fact that Noth was still in there, still able to talk to him had to mean something. If he could only get Shae’kathoth to leave her body, she might still be able to reclaim it.